BestConfigs: Home Theater PC

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jpishgar

jpishgar

Splendid
Overlord Emeritus
Jan 5, 2010
5,932
119
26,640
It's that time again! Time to update the Tom's Hardware BestConfigs! Once again, we are opening the field to user recommendations to get the best consensus for the absolute best of the best in each category. Post the best configuration you can put together for the following build category and our editorial team will pick 5 of the best to be put up to a public vote right here in the Systems forum. The top-ranking build will go on to become one of Tom's Hardware BestConfigs and you'll get the credit for having put together a brilliant build with a special credit in the feature article.

Post your entries to this thread for the category of:
Home Theater PC

Stay within $700 (without shipping) and no need to include OS, monitor, mouse/keyboard. To keep things fair and level the playing field, we ask that you restrict your product links to Newegg or Amazon. Please be sure to format your list of components as follows:

Joe's Hulu/Netflixstravaganza Rig
Processor: Component Name and Component Price
Motherboard: Component Name and Component Price
RAM: Component Name and Component Price
Graphics Card: Component Name and Component Price
Hard Drive: Component Name and Component Price
Case: Component Name and Component Price
Power Supply: Component Name and Component Price
Cooling: Component Name and Component Price
DVD Burner: Component Name and Component Price

See below for quick-copy/paste text of the BBcode.

[cpp]
Joe's Hulu/Netflixstravaganza Rig
Processor: Component Name and Component Price
Motherboard: Component Name and Component Price
RAM: Component Name and Component Price
Graphics Card: Component Name and Component Price
Hard Drive: Component Name and Component Price
Case: Component Name and Component Price
Power Supply: Component Name and Component Price
Cooling: Component Name and Component Price
DVD Burner: Component Name and Component Price
[/cpp]

You can also use the Tom's Hardware System Builder to build your recommendation and use the BBCode export option at the bottom of the build. If you do, be sure to include a link in your post to your build on the app for quick viewing.

Good luck, and may the best builds win!
 
g-unit1111

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
Jul 27, 2011
42,535
811
104,940
I call this one the "Trinity Killer" after John Lithgow's character on Dexter:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($81.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone SST-GD05B-USB3.0 (Black) HTPC Case ($122.56 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($70.17 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHES212-08 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($84.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $637.65
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-15 15:26 EST-0500)
 
K

kelvin08113

Honorable
Jun 20, 2012
343
0
10,810
INoHome's Made-for-home theater G34R
Processor: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor $129.99
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard $81.97
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $39.99
Graphics Card: Asus Radeon HD 6670 2GB Video Card $89.97 (Crossfire with Processor)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card $80.99
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $109.99
Case: Cooler Master Elite 311 (Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case $29.99
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $70.17
DVD Burner (Blueray Reader): Lite-On ihes112-04 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer $54.99

Total: $688.05
 
butremor

butremor

Honorable
Oct 23, 2012
1,563
0
12,160
B

brandon402

Honorable
Jul 2, 2012
144
0
10,690
Brandon402's "Blue Raze" Home Theater PC

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.29 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($107.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($54.73 @ NCIX US)
Total: $688.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-16 09:52 EST-0500)

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nVWr
 
O

Opy08117

Honorable
Nov 17, 2012
1
0
10,510
Hallam Super Home Theater PC Bull
Processor:[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103943]AMD A6-3650 Llano 2.6GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6530D AD3650WNGXBOX$84.99
Motherboard:[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0058HBNY2/?tag=pcpapi-20]ASRock MB-A75M Socket FM1/ AMD A75 FCH/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&GbE/ Micro ATX Motherboard$74.99
RAM:[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239283]Kingston 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) System Specific Memory Model KTL-TP3C/8G$52.49
Graphic card:[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125396]GIGABYTE GV-R677D5-1GD Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card$89.99
Hard drive:[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533]Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive$109.99
Case:[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216]COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case$74.99
Power Supply:[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171031]COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS500-PCARD3-US 500W ATX12V v2.3 Power Supply$49.99
DVD Burner(Bluray):[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140059]HP Half-Height 16x DVD-RW Optical Drive 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM Black SATA Model 447328-B21$64.99
Sound Card:[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102023]Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card - OEM$44.99
Total:$644.99
 
zared619

zared619

Distinguished
Sep 9, 2012
966
0
19,160
Zared619's "Fast and Loud"

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($81.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.15 @ Amazon)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 6670 2GB Video Card ($66.97 @ Newegg)
Sound Card: Creative Labs SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card ($54.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $685.01
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-19 14:52 EST-0500)
 
ocmusicjunkie

ocmusicjunkie

Honorable
Jun 6, 2012
320
0
10,860
Oddly, I am posting this build fromthe actual system I am proposing. :D

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 455 3.3GHz Triple-Core Processor ($71.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: SilenX EFZ-100HA2 58.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A88-M Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($103.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($81.80 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 360 ATX Mini Tower Case ($38.86 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($31.64 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-206DBKS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $638.23
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-19 17:42 EST-0500)
 
sylar365

sylar365

Distinguished
Jan 24, 2011
11
0
18,510
Grey's Ultra "SHHH!!, I'm watching a movie!" HTPC
Processor: AMD A10-5700 $129.99
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS mATX $54.99
RAM: AMD Performance Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 $21.99
Graphics Card: IGP 7660D
Hard Drive: Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 60GB SSD $64.99
Case: Silverstone ML03B Micro ATX HTPC $57.21
Power Supply: Seasonic SS-460FL 460W Fanless $129.99
Sound Card: HT Omega Claro-II Sound Card $184.99
DVD Burner: LITE-ON Black Blu-Ray 3D Playback Capable Burner IHBS112-04 $54.99


$699.14 and so quiet. I really wanted to keep the processor TDP to 65w. I wish I could have found the A8-5500 in stock. Obviously all media would be streamed to this machine from a NAS, the disc it came on or TEH INTERWEBZ.
 
B

blazorthon

Glorious
Sep 24, 2010
14,022
7
43,265
Blazor's ultra-quiet, high-storage capacity, very well-cooled Trinity of HTPCs
Processor: A6-5400K $69.98 (Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS $54.99+$5.99shipping=$60.98 (Newegg)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x2GB DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 1.5V BLE2KIT2G3D1608DE1TX0 (Newegg)
Graphics: integrated Radeon 7540D
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Red 2TB WD20EFRX $109.99 (Amazon)
Solid State Drive: Plextor M5S Series 64GB $49.99 (Newegg)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) $34.90 (Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic SS-460FL F3 fanless $129.99+$10.18 shipping=$140.17 (Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII S524 RR-G524-18PK-R1 $32.92 (Amazon)
Cooling: EVERCOOL HDAC Aluminum HDD Cooling $24.99+$2.99 shipping=$27.98 (Newegg)
Blu-Ray Reader/DVD/CD Burner: LG CH10LS28 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer $64.99+$4.99 shipping=$69.98 (Newegg)

Total: $613.89

A triple-hit of low noise, high storage capacity, and good cooling makes this an excellent HTPC. The fairly small form factor and low power consumption help too, but they're to be expected. A decent Trinity A6-5400K has lower idle power consumption than even Intel's Ivy Bridge dual-core CPUs despite the full process node disadvantage, making them ideal for such use as an HTPC where they're unlikely to be taxed by much most of the time. A 2TB Caviar Red hard drive provides a lot of capacity for storing media such as music and TV series/movies to your heart's content with enterprise-class reliability and among the lowest power consumption of any modern 3.5" HDDs while the 64GB Plextor M5S gives you a good enough boot drive performance boost for the mere 5.4KRPM spindle speed of the Caviar Red to be forgiven.

The hard drive is even further reduced in noise and temperature by the Evercool HDAC HDD cooling bay that not only silences and cools the drive (not that it was a loud nor hot drive to begin with), but also various read out information and fan speed control on integrated LCD screens.The Blu-Ray player with software is also a nice touch for any HTPC that will be used with Blu-Ray and/or 3D Blu-Ray playback.
 
S

Sabin1111

Honorable
Dec 1, 2012
1
0
10,510
I like this configuration which should be fairly quiet and because of the ASUS motherboard with Remote Go you could have your HTPC anywhere controlled by your tablet and/or smartphone. I chose windows 8 as my OS because I have not found any media center software that can handle everything that I need (HDHOMERUN, FUNSHION, HP Home server, Hulu, SONOS, PVR etc) so I have to go with something that can handle multiple solutions and it looks like Windows 8 will do the job I need it to do as far as HTPC. As you can see I didn't skimp on cost.

CPU: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASUS F2A85-M/CSM FM2 AMID A85X ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripsaw-X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($94.99 @ Newegg)
SSD Storage: Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD1 2.5 ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Node 605 Silent Home Theater Computer Case FD-CA-NODE-605-B ($159.40 @ Amazon.com)
Power Supply: SeaSonic SS-520FL 520W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 plus platinum Power Supply ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG Super-Multi Slim Blu-ray Combo Drive CT21N ($109.95 @ Newegg)
 
W

wantitbad

Distinguished
May 21, 2010
13
0
18,510
wantitbad's "DesiStyle" aka cheap HTPC build for under $500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($36.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($106.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 6450 2GB Video Card ($49.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case ($57.50 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill 350W ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $456.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-01 22:04 EST-0500)
 
I

itzsnypah

Honorable
Aug 20, 2012
56
0
10,630
Silence is a Virtue
Processor: Intel Pentium G630T 35w ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Foxconn H67S mITX ($64.99 @ Newegg)
RAM: Pareema 4GB (2x2GB )DDR3-1333 ($18.99 @ Newegg)
Graphics Card: ASUS Fanless GT610 w/HDMI ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Solid State Drive: Crucial M4 64GB SATA III SSD ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 mITX Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Seasonic SS-460FL Fanless 80+ Platnium 460w Modular ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Cooling: Silverstone HE02 Fanless Heatsink ($68.99 @ Newegg)
DVD Burner: DVD Burner ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total:$528.91
Take out all the fans in the case and run fanless. Choose the case because the sides are vented. PSU is way overkill but Newegg has a terrible selection of fanless PSU's.
 
CheesyHotDogPuff

CheesyHotDogPuff

Honorable
Sep 12, 2012
313
0
10,810
CheesyHotDogPuff's "Back To The Phenom"
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/qGQ1
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/qGQ1/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/qGQ1/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($89.79 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($65.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($23.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($76.99 @ Computer Valley)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($129.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Silverstone GD04B HTPC Case ($99.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($74.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: LG BH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($99.98 @ NCIX)
Total: $661.71
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-04 19:41 EST-0500)
And Blazorthon, keep in mind this is a contest not a discussion. this was the htpc I built for a friend and it works great.
It may not be the best, but I love these contests. :)
 
B

blazorthon

Glorious
Sep 24, 2010
14,022
7
43,265


Nitpicking, but it's Phenom II, not Phenom.

Also, why a Radeon 7770 in an HTPC? It's incredibly overpowered for an HTPC.
 
A

ajaxhax

Honorable
Dec 7, 2012
3
0
10,510
Shadowbox

Processor: AMD A10-5700 + $10 Gift Card + Free Copy of Dirt SHOWDOWN $124.99
Motherboard: MSI FM2 Mini-ITX FM2-A75IA-E53 $89.99
RAM: G.SKILL Ares 2x4GB DDR3 1866 $34.99
Graphics Card: IGP 7660D
Solid State Drive: Crucial M4 128GB $78.74
Hard Drive: Western Digital Green 2TB 2.5" WD20NPVT $195.99
Case: Antec ISK 300-150 Mini-ITX $79.22
Power Supply: 150W included in case
Cooling: Noctua NF-R8 80mm Case Fan x2 $28.30
Cooling: Noctua NH-L9a CPU Cooler $42.49

Total price: $664.71 (from Amazon and Newegg)
I actually ordered the case and HDD from Superbiiz both shipped for $256.19 as opposed to $275.21 from Amazon. Price I paid: $645.69

Options for reducing cost:
If you're not concerned about the noise, you can nix the Noctua coolers and save yourself $70. You can also save another $150 by consolidating and shrinking the HDD/SDD with a Seagate Momentus XT 750GB $129.99

I painstakingly waited for sales and coupons from Newegg to get all the components over the last couple of weeks at a discount and re-used my Newegg Gift Card. I'm planning to install Win7 Home Premium 64bit for Windows Media Center. Should be a pretty silent HTPC / light gaming machine. There's space for a slim 5.25 ODD which I chose to leave out. I wish they made card readers for slim 5.25 ODD slots! I'll also be re-using an original pre-ordered Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe card to fill the half-height expansion slot.
 
A

ajaxhax

Honorable
Dec 7, 2012
3
0
10,510

Just curious... why not? Antec is known for their quality PSUs and I haven't seen any negative reviews on the PSU in this case when it hasn't been overloaded. With the 65W TDP CPU and low-power HDD, I don't think it will be a problem. I'll find out in a few days!
 
BreadWhistle

BreadWhistle

Honorable
Sep 21, 2012
628
0
11,010
Doesn't matter. Every PSU calculator I've used says you need a MINIMUM of about 250w PSU. And since it seems you will be doing some overclocking with that CPU fan, you will need even more. I'd say get a CX430 just to even run your build at all.
 
N

nix327

Honorable
Nov 25, 2012
417
0
10,810
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rsoz
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rsoz/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rsoz/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Pentium G645 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($108.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Inwin Dragon Slayer MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($90.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $507.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-08 05:08 EST-0500)
 
A

ajaxhax

Honorable
Dec 7, 2012
3
0
10,510

This maybe isn't the appropriate place to discuss the build, but this is the only place I've posted it.
Thanks for the heads up with the power supply. If I have any future issues, I know what to look for. I haven't invested in a kill-a-watt meter to check, but the build is constructed and working well so far. I'm using the Low Noise Adapter for the 2 Noctua case fans, and running the CPU cooler with the smart fan option targeted at 45C. It's very quiet and barely audible from the couch at 6 ft away. The clock on the wall 20ft away was ticking louder than the computer. The WD 2TB notebook drive just barely fits. Idle temps are 37-40C. Haven't tested it under load, but that Dirt SHOWDOWN game that came with the CPU looks awesome. Highest temps I got playing that for 30 mins were ~55C. The only slight problem was that the Cable-Card M-card wouldn't fit in the Ceton Tuner slot in the Antec case. I had to remove the PCIe slot lock in the corner of the case and bend the metal upwards so the M-card would slide in. It seems to cool best when placed vertically with the exhaust fans on top. Also, the Antec case has USB 3.0 on the front, not USB 2.0 like many websites indicate.
 
lp231

lp231

Splendid
Mar 24, 2006
3,067
0
21,460
Processor: AMD A10 5800K @3.8GHz ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA ($59.99 @ Newegg)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Graphics Card: integrated
Hard Drive: Western Digital Green 2TB ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: SilverStone Grandia ($105.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX430 ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Cooling: included with processor
Blu Ray: LG Blu-Ray writer $54.99 @ Newegg)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar ($39.99 @ Newegg)
TV tuner: Happage TV tuner ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $647.91
 
M

max40watt

Distinguished
Nov 22, 2010
64
0
18,640
The Old Timey NES HTPC

I thought I'd add my actual Home Theater PC to the list. It's certainly far from the most powerful machine here, but for my media streaming needs it is perfect and the look can't be beat.

Processor: ASRock E350M1/USB3 AMD E-350 APU Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo $100
Motherboard: See above
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 $20
Graphics Card: Included in APU
Hard Drive: Kingston SSDNow V+200 2.5" 120GB $90
Case: Broken NES Console, about $15
Power Supply: nMEDIAPC HTPC Typical 60W, Maxiaum 85W Mini ITX DC to ATX Integrated Power Module with DC Adaptor $35
Cooling: Scythe 40mm Chipset Fan $5
DVD Burner: None

Total: Around $265


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